Final Fantasy: Rise of Despair
When we last left off, Harris and Heidi crash landed in the Koringwood. The two were sharing some tender moments as Heidi did her best to tend to the wounded Harris, but how shall they fare now that Marshal Agon has sent an elite unit after them?
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance, I do own the characters and plot.
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Truth in Power, part ichi
A lone chocobo was walking through the woods. It perked its head up to look around before it bent over to eat some grass. The chocobo walked a few more paces and looked around curiously. Within the next minute, the chocobo was lying on its side with three arrows embedded in its body. "Whew… for a second I thought that it heard me." Heidi sighed from the bushes. "Hrrrrrrrnnnggghhh…" Heidi groaned as she tried to drag the chocobo, not an easy feat considering her wounds.
Later…
"Mmmm…" Harris moaned as he slowly woke up. "Something… smells good." Harris said.
"That would be the chocobo meat I'm adding to the stew." Heidi said while mixing another batch of stew, this time with a few small chunks of meat in it.
"You caught a chocobo?" Harris asked. "In your condition?"
"I'm a lot better now Harris." Heidi said as she stood up. "Augh…" She grunted slightly.
"…" Harris looked at her both skeptically and with concern. "Well, if you say so." Harris said.
"Okay so I'm not one-hundred percent." Heidi said as she walked over towards Harris with a bowl of stew. "And how about you?" She asked.
"Actually…" Harris lifted his arm weakly, but he didn't wince in pain. "It doesn't hurt as much to move now." Harris said.
"What about your mana?" Heidi asked.
"Let me try…" Harris focused inward. "Nurse… AUGH!" When Harris tried to augment his mana to speed up his healing it only caused him more pain.
"Oh Harris." Heidi quickly but carefully put the bowl down and put her hand against Harris' chest, calming his writhing body down quickly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"No… it's alright." Harris said. There was a brief pause before Harris continued. "I'm sure that stew is good." Harris said as he reached for it.
"Hold on, I still want you to rest." Heidi said as she picked up the bowl of stew. "I'm going to have to feed you again." She added as she dipped the wooden spoon in to the bowl and started feeding Harris again.
Meanwhile…
Major Destro was leading his men through Salikawood. Many soldiers, all of them advanced jobs such as paladins, ninjas, snipers, gunners, jugglers, templers, dragoons, alchemists, sages, and many other varieties marching through the forest confident in the success of their next mission. "Major Destro!"
"What is it Chak?" Destro asked the sage.
"Why is the Marshal sending us after two wounded people? I mean, only two of them? And they're wounded?" Chak asked.
"You aren't questioning the good Marshal now are you?" Destro asked.
"Of course not! I'm just saying that this is a bit of a waste of the elite regiment's talents. It's overkill." Chak said.
"The Marshal doesn't want to take chances with these two, but since he is sending all of us, our success is guaranteed." Destro said.
"True." Chak said.
"Hey here's a thought…" Destro said. Destro stopped moving and the men behind him stopped marching. "Attention!" Destro shouted. "Now then… with the success of this mission comes my promotion, and thus, I shall no longer be your leader." Destro said.
"What!"
"Major Destro! You are our best commander though!"
"Fear not my men! For you shall be left in the hands of Chak here, who shall be promoted to Major and leader of the Elite Regiment as my first act as Colonel of the Black Army!"
"Hooray!"
"Commander Chak!"
"Rah!"
"Now then, I am aware that some of you are skeptic about this assignment." Destro said. "Answer honestly, how many of you believe this will be an assignment that is all too easy?" Destro asked. Every single soldier raised his or her hand. "So then… all of you? All of you?" Destro asked in disbelief.
"…" The soldiers now were on the edge, feeling that they may have insulted their Major.
"Men men MEN!" Destro said, shouting at that last men. "Just because our assignment seems easy, I expect none of you to hold back! And just to guarantee that you all show no mercy during the assignment…" The soldiers were now somewhat nervous, even though they did an excellent job of hiding it. "… Let us celebrate my promotion! Our success tomorrow! And your new leader! To Muscadet for food and drink!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The soldiers shouted.
Meanwhile…
Now it was nighttime, Heidi and Harris were alone in the cave. Harris was simply sitting against the wall while Heidi was whittling something. "What are you making?" Harris asked.
"A walking stick." Heidi said as she kept smoothing out the wood with her wrist knife.
"A walking stick? What for?" Harris asked.
"For you silly." Heidi said with a smile. "You're going to need this for a while, assuming that you can walk anytime soon."
"Walk? Heh, I can walk just fine." Harris said with a smile. He slowly tried to stand up, shaking as he did so.
"Harris…" Heidi said wearily. "Harris please don't push yourself." Heidi said as she got up and walked toward Harris.
"Uuuuunnnnggghhh…" Harris used the cave wall for support while standing up as his legs quaked violently. "Ugh." Harris started to fall backward when Heidi quickly caught him. "Thank you." Harris said with a slight chuckle.
"Oh what did I just tell you?" Heidi asked him sternly as she helped him sit back against the cave wall
"You're right. I was being careless." Harris said. "But… at least we're alive."
"Yes…" Heidi said. "I have you to thank for that." Heidi said. The two were quiet for a while, crickets chirping from the outside of the cave to the cool night air.
"Heidi." Harris started.
"What?" Heidi asked.
"I really can't thank you enough." Harris said.
"For this? This is nothing." Heidi said.
"Not just this. For everything… you've helped me in many ways." Harris said.
"Harris I haven't…"
"I just wish I could have helped you more." Harris finished.
"Harris don't be absurd. You've helped me so many times, that I'm the one who can't repay you." Heidi told him.
"You have Heidi… more than you know." Harris said gently. Both of them said nothing more for the rest of the night. They simply rested against the cave wall side by side, before they both drifted off in to sleep.
The next day…
"Ugh…" Harris groaned. Heidi was supporting Harris until she was sure he could safely support himself on the walking stick. "Heh… heh…" Harris breathed heavily before smiling. "See? No problem." Harris said.
"Harris take it slow." Heidi said with obvious worry in her voice as she watched Harris walk slowly on the walking stick. "After all, it's not like we're leaving anytime soon. Not in your condition."
"I suppose you're right." Harris said. "But… I would like to step outside of this cave."
"…" Heidi sighed, unsure at first. She closed her eyes, but then she smiled as she opened them. "Alright." Heidi said. She followed Harris slowly as he walked out of the cave. They stepped out in to the open air, watching the sun's rays fall through the trees. They took it in as the birds chirped, heard them flap their wings, and listen to the wind rustle through the leaves, carrying but a few leaves with it.
"Simply beautiful." Harris said in bliss.
"It is Harris. It truly is." Heidi agreed softly.
Meanwhile…
"Alright men, keep a very low profile. Our targets are around here somewhere." Destro said. It was now mid-noon, the elite regiment was within the Koringwood.
"Koringwood is vast, they could be anywhere." Shak pointed out.
"Right, however it is best we stay in one group. So, men I must stress that you take quiet steps as we move through this forest, we don't want to alert them to any danger." Destro said. So they moved along as quietly as an army of one thousand men could.
Later…
"Harris, please sleep." Heidi said.
"I know I did sleep the past few nights, but I'm still having those nightmares." Harris said.
"Harris, you've slept fine the last few nights." Heidi told him.
"They weren't as vivid, but as my health improved, they've been becoming more and more vivid." Harris said as he sat down against the cave wall.
"Hmmmm…" Heidi thought for a moment, then her face lit up as an idea came to her. Heidi sat down gently next to Harris while humming to a melody.
"Heidi… what are you…"
"Shhhhhhhhhh…" Heidi said gently. "Law down gently, lay down my love…" Heidi started singing softly. "… know that you are being watched from above. Sleep gently as you lay your head, they shall ward off all that you dread. Sleep… sleep… sleep tight…" Heidi sang gently. She continued to hum to the song as Harris found himself growing drowsier.
"Heidi… what is this?" Harris asked as sleep started to overcome him.
"It's a lullaby my mother used to sing, now sleep." Heidi said gently. Harris smiled in defeat as both he and Heidi fell asleep next to each other. A little time had passed when Heidi's ears quivered. "Hm?" She woke up and looked towards the mouth of the cave, careful not to wake Harris. She kept staring at the mouth of the cave, she looked at Harris, then looked at the cave again before quietly exiting the cave.
A short while later…
Heidi was jumping through the trees in the middle of the night, the full moon shining brightly overhead. She was jumping slower and more carefully than usual as she still wasn't in top form. "I thought I heard something." Heidi thought to herself as she kept moving.
"Keep alive men. According to the report they should be in this area." Came a voice unknown to Heidi.
"What is that?" Heidi continued to jump through the trees towards the source of the noise. She finally stopped on one tree branch, looking below to find a large army of black soldiers. "No… it can't be…" Heidi thought to herself.
"Exactly where in this area sir?" Chak asked.
"The report said in some very hard to spot cave, so keep a very sharp eye out men." Destro said.
"I have to get Harris out of here." Heidi thought as she turned back towards the cave, only to find an assassin and a juggler behind her.
"Going somewhere?" The assassin asked.
"Sir… we're missing two soldiers." A random elite said from the crowd.
"Huh? Where did they…" Destro started to ask when,
"Augh!" An assassin and a Juggler fell from the trees above with arrows embedded in their chests.
"Gunners open fire!" Destro ordered. The elites all fanned out in to specific groups with gunners all grouped together aiming for the trees, firing one after the other.
"Whoa!" Heidi deliberately fell from the tree branches and landed on her two legs and one of her arms, holding her bow in her right hand.
"Melee units charge! Bow and gunner units hold fire! Magic users strike one at a time! Go!" Destro ordered. "Here's the first stepping stone to my promotion." Destro thought to himself with a smile.
Heidi immediately put away her bow and drew her katana and blocked an attack from the side, spun around to avoid several more strikes before slashing a defender. "Augh!" Heidi then began fending off three sword users at once before jumping backward to avoid getting roasted by a fireball.
"Blitz!" A random gladiator lunged at Heidi with an aimed attack that Heidi narrowly avoided and countered by stabbing her wrist knife in to his chest while simultaneously stabbing another guy with his katana.
"Conceal!" Heidi vanished right as a few arrows and bullets came flying at her. A hunter and a sniper soon found an arrow embedded in their chest as Heidi went dashing for another melee unit.
"Strike now!" Destro ordered. To Heidi's surprise, a few units in the trees above her dropped down to impale her with their weapons. Heidi managed to avoid this but lost her momentum and was unable to dodge an air render attack from behind and a thunder spell.
"Augh!" Heidi shouted she went flying in to a tree by the bolt. She quickly shook it off in time to avoid a bunch of arrows and bullets that embed themselves in the tree.
Meanwhile…
"Hm!" Harris awoke with a start. "Heidi?" Harris looked around, then looked towards the mouth of the cave. "I've got a bad feeling about this." Harris weakly stood up with his walking stick, and he slowly walked his way out of the cave.
Meanwhile…
"Heh… for someone who's injured she isn't doing bad." Destro said.
"Maybe I'd best lend some assistance. Bio!" Shak cast a bio spell as Heidi just slashed two more soldiers. Heidi quickly caught a whiff of the poison and leaped away before the green globs formed. Heidi rolled out of the way of about ten sword attacks as she landed before drawing her katana and leaping at them.
"Hiyah!" Heidi fended off five of them while prepping her wrist knife and stabbing one that tried to attack from the side. Heidi then spun away from them and stabbed three at once. Heidi ducked under a few arrows and then jumped away from the nearest units.
"Ifrit!" A summoner summoned Ifrit right above Heidi.
"!!!" Heidi looked up and jumped away just in time as Ifrit formed a pillar of fire below him. "She isn't able to control him like Laura can." Heidi thought. Heidi quickly turned and blocked sword strikes from a ninja and a templer. "Augh!" Heidi cried as two bullets hit her in the arm and leg. She shoved away the attackers and leaped in to the trees to avoid an aero spell.
"She's escaping in to the trees!" Destro shouted.
"These guys… are better than average soldiers… augh…" Heidi groaned as she checked her wounds.
"There she is!" Two ninjas leaped at her with two swords drawn. Heidi grabbed the tree branch and swung underneath it to avoid the katana attacks. As she went swinging towards another branch a juggler and a dragoon lunged at her from higher up tree branches.
"Conceal!" Heidi turned invisible, making it hard for them to aim their attacks and thus they crashed in to each other while Heidi landed and picked them off with double shot. "Whoa!" Heidi ducked just in time to avoid an assassin from decapitating her and instead embedding her katana in to the tree.
"Crap." The assassin said right before Heidi kicked her off and shot her as she fell.
"Rah!" The two ninjas from earlier leaped at her from their tree branches.
"Double shot!" Heidi fired an arrow in to the chests of each ninja.
"Jump attack!" A dragoon nearly hit Heidi with his lance, but the second he landed on another tree branch he turned and inhaled. "Bangaa c… augh!" An arrow was shot in to his chest before he could finish that.
"Whoa!" Heidi leaned backwards to avoid a few arrows and dangled from the branch by her legs. Heidi then let herself fall, but she skillfully landed on the ground and shot two more soldiers.
"Blizzaga!"
"AUGH!" Heidi wasn't able to avoid the large icicle. Though she avoided a fatal injury, it still did more damage than Heidi would have liked.
Meanwhile…
"Heidi!" Harris gasped when he heard a cry in the distance. He quickly turned and nearly lost his balance. But he nonetheless pressed onward, supporting his weight on the walking stick.
Meanwhile…
"Argh!" Heidi received a nasty cut from a paladin's sword strike, but she stabbed him and slashed two other soldiers in the stomach with her katana before sheathing it and quickly drawing her bow. "Beso Toxico!" Heidi fired a poison arrow in a fashion to wear it scratched several soldiers at once and caused them to die shortly after being exposed to the poison.
"Get her!" A few other units leaped at her from above. Heidi quickly drew her wrist knife and rolled under one unit before it landed and stabbed him in the back.
"Augh!" Heidi got hit in the shoulder by an arrow but ignored it as she jumped off of the dying soldier's shoulder and above the other units, firing her arrows in to their skulls. Heidi landed, put away her bow and then drew her katana and resumed slicing up soldiers.
"Ramuh!" Another summoner called upon Ramuh to strike Heidi. Heidi rolled out of way while using conceal to disappear.
"Where did she… ARGH!" Heidi slashed one before she disappeared again. Heidi proceeded to do this in an attempt to avoid more blows aimed at her.
"Alright." Destro said.
"Alright what sir?" Shak asked.
"I'm tired of standing here." Destro said as he drew two blades. "Rah!" Destro ran at Heidi full speed right before she disappeared. Much to Heidi's surprise, Destro blocked the attack with one of his blades and aimed for her neck with the other blade.
"Whoa!" Heidi narrowly avoided that blow by ducking and spinning backward.
"Air blast!" Destro kicked a leg out and sent a blast of air towards Heidi that caused her to lose her balance.
"Augh!"
"Air render!" Destro tossed a sword in to the air and threw a fist forward, sending a blast of compressed air to strike Heidi.
"Ah!" She cried. She regained her balance and prepared to swing at Destro. Destro once again blocked with the blade he was still holding as he caught the blade he tossed up behind his back and stabbed at Heidi's stomach. Heidi jumped backward but to her surprise, Destro followed up with a slash aimed at Heidi's stomach. "AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!" She cried as the blade sliced through her stomach.
Meanwhile…
"!!!" Harris heard yet another agonizing cry. Harris only tried to move faster, hobbling through the forest quickly. "Heidi… don't die… on me…" Harris said weakly.
Meanwhile…
Heidi's angel ring gave off a bright glow before healing her fatal wounds. Heidi stood up slowly, only for Destro to kick her down to the ground. "Ha! Air render!" Destro threw another fist forward and struck Heidi again while she was still down. "You know, you should feel proud of yourself, you took down one hundred men of the elite unit." Destro said.
"Grrrrrr…" Heidi groaned.
"Shame you weren't in your prime. That would have been interesting." Destro said as he kicked Heidi again. "Now you should consider yourself honored. You are about to be slain by the next Colonel of the Black Army." Destro said confidently. Destro held his blade at Heidi's throat as she caught her breath. "Any last words?"
"Burn… in hell…" Heidi spat at him.
"How typical." Destro said. He raised his blade above Heidi and then brought it down. Blood went flying as the blade sunk in to flesh and bone. "What?"
"Huh?" Most of the soldiers gasped.
"…" Heidi looked up. "Harris!" Harris was standing above her, Destro's blade embedded in his shoulder.
"Augh…" Harris groaned. Destro removed his blade as Harris grasped the wound. "Heidi…"
"Why?" Heidi asked.
"I wasn't about to… let you die." Harris said.
"But Harris…"
"Oh ho ho ho! So… Harris the White Paladin makes himself visible." Destro laughed. "Brilliant, my promotion comes a lot sooner than I expected."
"Grrrrrrrrrr…" Harris growled as he looked at Destro with sheer hatred. "No… there will be nothing left for you after this." Harris threatened.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Destro asked. "You and that girl are in horrible shape, and you are looking at nine hundred of the Black Army's finest soldiers. I don't think you stand much of a chance." Destro pointed out smugly.
"…" Harris' eyes opened wide as these facts sunk in. "He's… he's right but… but… maybe… no. No I can't…" Harris thought. He looked at Heidi. "But if I don't she'll… we both could… but I… I swore I… grrrrrr…" Harris thought even harder as he surveyed the situation.
"Harris…" Heidi looked at him sadly. "… at least… we had a good run." Heidi said sadly.
"…" Harris sighed heavily. He reached for his bandages and slowly began unwinding them.
"What is he doing?" A soldier asked.
"Ugh… look at his arm."
"That's disgusting."
"Are you trying to gross us to death or something?" Destro asked. Harris held the bandages in his right hand before he let them fall to the ground.
"Harris?" Heidi looked at Harris. "What are you…" She started to ask.
"Heidi… I'm sorry…" Harris said.
"?"
"I owe you… a lot of explaining after this." Harris said, he then looked at the sky. "And… I'm sorry, I swore I would never do this again." He said softly, not speaking to anyone.
"Oh for the love of… just die!" Destro ran at Harris with his blades drawn.
"…" Harris closed his eyes as air seemed to stir around him.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" As Destro was about to strike him, he was suddenly sent flying backwards by an invisible force. "ARGH!"
"Huh?!" The soldiers were bewildered as Harris became covered by a blue aura. Then this same blue energy circled around and around Harris.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh…" Chak gasped in fear.
"What's wrong with you?" Destro asked as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"His… his mana… its… its… its increasing…" Chak stuttered.
"Harris told me he was suppressing his mana but… he was suppressing this much?" Heidi asked herself as she felt Harris' mana climb higher and higher. "It… almost hurts to feel it rise this much so quickly."
"So?" Destro asked.
"I… I… I've never felt this much mana in my life…" Chak stuttered. The blue light fully enveloped Harris before it died down. When the light cleared, Harris looked almost completely different.
His hair remained in the same fashion, but the turban was golden in color and had a blue gem at the center of it. He had a gold outer robes and blue pants that were clearly visible from the front along with golden shoes. Two orange strips of clothing that resembled two very thin capes dangled from the neck of the robes. His right forearm had a blue fingerless glove but he was wearing a golden glove underneath it. Golden bandages wrapped themselves around Harris' left arm although it left the back of this left hand visible and somehow still wrapped itself around his fingers. Finally his two knightswords were still sheathed at his left side.
"Harris?"
"Angel Whisper…" Harris whispered softly, yet it echoed through the air as a white aura covered him. "White wind." Harris raised a hand above his head and a cyclone of white colored wind surrounded him and Heidi, fully healing both of them.
"But… how?" Heidi asked.
"Releasing all of my mana helped restore normal mana flow." Harris said. "…" Harris looked at the back of his left hand sadly. Slowly an image appeared on his left hand, it was a pattern of thick black lines that resembled two halves of a heart and a crown above it. Harris let his left hand drop so that the enemy army could see it, and then allowed Heidi to see it.
"!!!" Heidi's eyes opened in shock as she saw it.
"That… that's the symbol of my race." Destro said.
"Harris… that means… you're…"
"Yes." Harris said almost sadly. He then looked at the enemy army with sheer hatred. "I am the Racemaster of the humans!" Harris declared with more pride. "And all of you… have angered me." Harris hissed at them.
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Oh man you guys have no clue how much I wanted to write this chapter. Now Harris has revealed himself, and is prepared to unleash his fury upon the Black Army. Fear not dear readers, you don't have to wait too long, the next part of the Harris and Heidi chapters is next. Until then, read and review!